(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a small backhoe vehicle, and more particularly to a backhoe vehicle comprising an engine and a driver's seat disposed rearwardly of an oil passage defining rotary joint of a swivel platform rotatably mounted through bearings on a stationary support of a chassis, a swivel guide gear attached to the stationary support, a swivel pinion meshed with the swivel guide gear, a motor for driving the swivel pinion to rotate the swivel platform, and traveling control valves and backhoe control valves mounted in a control box disposed on the swivel platform forwardly of the rotary joint.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
As shown in FIG. 10 of the accompanying drawings, a known backhoe vehicle of this type comprises a swivel platform 4 rotatable by a motor M3 disposed between a rotary joint 9 and an engine 8.
Such an arrangement has the following inconvenience. Where the vehicle is designed to have a reduced length from a swivel axis P to the rear end of the swivel platform 4, a driver's seat 15 must be disposed at a high level. With the reduction of the length from the swivel axis P to the rear end of the swivel platform 4, the spacing between the engine 8 and rotary joint 9 is reduced. Then it is necessary to dispose the motor M3 laterally away from the center of the swivel platform 4 in order to avoid interference between the motor M3 and the engine 8 or hydraulic pumps P1 and P2 and other implements associated with the engine 8. Consequently, the motor M3 inevitably is disposed under the driver's foot. The motor M3 and rotary joint 9 extend from the bottom of the swivel platform 4 upwardly to a relatively high level. This requires a driver's deck covering the motor M3 and rotary joint 9 to include step portions or foot rests for the driver located at a high level as shown in FIG. 11.